Grime in 2006 - Put The Work In, Then Put The Work Out

Really and truly, 2006 should be remembered as the year that Wiley released 5 albums.

With dubstep taking over this year's blogs and funky house taking over UK dancefloors, it's easy to forget that only a few years back broadsheets were hailing grime as "the planet's most exciting sound."

But, after years of adolescent management, boring street politics and industry indifference it seems that grime's supply system finally caught up with the flagging demand of 300 restless kids in East London and four tired bloggers, with JME and his Boy Better Know camp taking on '06 with total efficiency, releasing grime's first real catalogue of street albums or mixtapes, rather than just random white labels. I remember seeing JME years ago being shamed on Heat FM by a 12-year-old kid for wearing those ridiculous Evisu jeans covered in thousands of multi-coloured gulls, but with three solo mixtapes - Shh Hut Yuh Muh, Poomplex and Derkhead (with bonus funky house-esque Tropical CD) - JME and his brother Skepta got SERIOUS. They convinced Wiley to ditch his own Roll Deep entourage and oversaw the release of Wiley's much-delayed second album Da 2nd Phaze. Along with co-signing Tinchy Stryder's I'm Back U Know and Frisco's Back To The Lab, they released a further four Wiley mixtapes (Tunnel Vision Vol. 1-4). It wasn't long until other grime artists took note - Jammer gave us two full mixtapes, Ruff Sqwad delivered Guns & Roses Vol.2 (which wasn't as good as Vol.1 - instead check out Ruff Sqwad MC Slix's solo mixtape, Down Vol.1), Slew Dem released the mixtape/DVD combo Non-Stop Working and I got new drink coasters from the likes of Dolla Da Dustbin Man and MC Narstie.

With the shelves at Uptown and Rhythm Division fully stocked, radio continued to be a major force in grime - with the added bonus of promoting actual product, rather than just hype. Rinse FM cut short the grime to make way for instrumental dubstep (was it the constant no-shows or the shotgun incident?), Plastician got a regular slot on Radio 1 (even though he mostly plays dubstep), DJ Target was finally given a spot on 1Xtra (he mostly plays Roll Deep, which is totally fine by me) and Logan Sama's show on Kiss FM just gets better every week (except when he decides to play anything by Bruza).

Memorable stories of the year included Statik creating grindie and being voted the 30th coolest guy in world by the NME, Crazy Titch going down for murder, losing Young Gun shotta Slinga (R.I.P. little brother!), Shystie not getting dropped but never actually releasing anything again only to relaunch herself as a soap star, Skepta calling us out on Rinse FM, Wiley calling out everyone (but not us) and getting beaten up by God's Gift live on radio, Essentials splitting up and then getting back together a few months later, Scorcher's cat giving birth to kittens, Logan Sama's masterful use of the word "dichotomy" on the Rinsessions DVD and Dizzee Rascal just disappearing altogether (Whagwan Diz? What happened to one a year like Jay?).

On top of all this, we've discovered great new MCs like Scorcher, Devlin and Badness, and seen other favourites like Ears and Faction G get even better. Add to this Wiley getting signed to Bid Dada and the release of Statik's Broadband and Skepta's Greatest Hits and things really aren't looking too bad for 2007. PRANCEHALL --- Top 10 Mixtapes of 2006:
Jammer - Are You Dumb Vol. 1
Wiley - Tunnel Vision Vol. 2
JME - Poomplex: Edition 2
Ghetto - 2000 & Life
Devlin - Tales from the Crypt
Roadside Gs - Gangsta Grime
Slix - Down Vol. 1
Faction G - The Fact Remains
Ruff Sqwad - Guns & Roses Vol. 2
Neckle Camp - Straight Necklin' Video Clip of 2006:

Top 3 MCs Convicted in 2006:
Roachee (FREE ROACHEE)
Crazy Titch (FREE TITCH)
Mercston (WAS SHE REALLY 15?)